Another Journey Across Dimensions
by Fangs of Lightning
Summary: After Miko died, Troy helped York to move on. But strange things have begun happening around York. The two are once again thrown into a cross dimension. Multi-crossover, including elements of Silent Hill. TroyxYork.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters in this story.

Chapter 1: through the hole again

Troy and York were at Troy's house, laying on his bed. It was the middle of the night, but they had been unable to fall asleep for quite some time. York was stradling Troy, laying on him with his head on his shoulder. Sweat and cum still coated their bodies, creating a sticky mess. Neither wanted to move, so they ignored it.

"Troy. Ever since Miko died," York began.

"Good riddance."

"Troy! Anyway, things've been really weird. I keep seeing things, I have strange dreams, and hear voices in my head. It never happened when Miko was around. And yesterday, my parents tried to kill me." York sighed. "I just don't know what it is."

"Well, Miko was a Light Baku. Maybe that prevented all this stuff from happening. All that matters is that she's not here, we're together, and you'll be fine."

"Mmm. I hope so." York rubbed his face against Troy's neck, getting comfortable. Soon he was dozing off in Troy's embrace.

_"Light the fire. He must be purified! We can't let another Alessa come into being!" A woman's voice echoed in the inky blackness. _

_There was the sound of shuffling, and York felt heat as flames were transferred to the wod he was tied above. He squirmed around, to no avail. The heat got more intense and he felt the flames licking at his legs. The smell of burning flesh filled the night air as smoke billowed to the sky. York coughed, trying to move away. His scream pierced the night air, echoing across town..._

York's eyes flew open and he stared at Troy's neck. Shaking, he sat up and looked around. Soft light filtered throught the window, signaling the sunrise. Shadows danced across the floor as trees moved about in the wind. York untangled himself from Troy and got out of bed. Not bothering to cover himself- it's not like anyone else was there- York quitely left the room and went to the bathroom down the hall. York gathered the things he needed for his shower, set them down where they belonged, and turned the water on. He let the water run over his hand until it was hot enough, then got in and turned it into a shower.

York didn't waste any time getting cleaned off and washing his hair. He was humming, letting the water wash over his face, when he heard heavy breathing from behind him. York's eyes opened as he spun around. No one was there. York looked out of the shower, but still didn't see anything. His eyes travelled to the ceiling, and there he saw a grotesque creature staring at him.

It looked like a man, but was sticking to the ceiling with his hands and feet, which seemed to be oddly twisted behind him. The man's bank was facing York, though he could see the face clearly. His eyes were glazed with lust, which caused an intense feeling of disgust to take root in York's stomach. Letting his eyes travel lower, York found that from the waist down the man was turned normally. Another, more powerful feeling of disgust hit York whe he noticed the dripping erection that hung between the man's legs.

York drew back in shock then ran out of the bathroom. He threw himself onto Troy, who woke up instantly.

"What is it, York?" Troy asked, half-asleep.

"I saw somerthing again. In the bathroom." York was shaking, pressed against Troy. "It was on the ceiling, and looked like a man. Just, it was all... twisted. It had a creepy expression, and watched me in my shower, and wanted to rape me!"

"It's all right, York. It's probably gone by now. Let's go. We need a shower."

"We? But Troy-"

"You're dirty again. It's not my fault you decided you had to press against me." Troy pulled York out of the room, York protesting. "Besides, I'll bet you left the shower runnning."

Troy stopped in front of the bathroom doorway and let go of York's hand. He went into the bathroom and looked around. The bathroom looked normal.

"York, he's not here anymore. Now, come on. It's graduation today and you can never be too clean for such an important event."

York gave into Troy's logic, and soon they were on their way to school. York and troy walked side by side, as usual, ignoring everyone around them. They were talking about anything and everything that came to mind, getting strange stares from the other people on the street. As they went around a corner, York thought he saw a little girl staring at him from the yard of the empty house they were passing by. He stopped, staring back at her. She was dressed as though she was from olden times in America, with a white collar shirt under a blue sweatshirt above a skirt of the same blue color. White socks came up from black shoes, stopping just under her knees. Black hair was tied back in a ponytail. She tilted her head to the side a bit, brown eyes seeming to see into York's soul. A ringing started in York's mind as the little girl approached him, putting her hand out.

"York? What's wrong, York?" Troy said, turning.

"You don't see her? Ah, my head," York said, bringing his hands to his head.

Troy came to his side with a worried look on his face. The little girl stopped inches away from York, and he screamed and fell to the ground. A flash of light was all Troy saw before finding York and himself in a different place. York was laying curled curled on the ground, hands still on his head. The room was small, and poorly lit. A small window was on the back wall directly across from the door. Troy shook York, groaning when the redhead didn't resond. He sat back, and decided to wait until York got up.

_Let's see. We've once again been transported to some strange world with no idea why or how to get home. The only difference is we haven't been attacked yet,_ Troy thought.

"But, Vashyron, we haven't found anything but twisted abominations for hours," a male voice said, approaching the door. "What makes you think we'll find something now?"

"Trust me. We'll find something soon," another, older, male voice said.

"Vashyron, last time we trusted something you said, we ended up here," a woman said as the door started opening.

"And I told you we'd find something interes-"

The three in the dorway stood staring at York and Troy. Troy sat, staring back at them. The oldest had black hair that faded into red tied back into a ponytail. Some of it hung at the left side of his face, around chin-length. He had green eyes, and his outfit could've been considered a little weird. A pink jacket with faded white swirls covered a blue shirt, reminding Troy of a candy he had once seen. He had a red holster with the bottom of it around his right thigh, standing out against his dark gray pants.

The younger on his left was the woman. She had silver shoulder-length hair, purple eyes, and looked dessed for a safari. On her head were leapord ears, matching the leopard-print coat she was wearing, which complimented her small curves. Her boots were zebra-print and ended past the bottom of her coat.

The other male was obviously the youngest by a few years. He had short olive-green hair, and two different colored eyes. The left was an amber color, while the right was gold. Around his neck was a green belt, and he only had one glove, which was red and on his right hand. His shirt was colored with orange and black, with a pumpkin picture on it. His pants were black, the very bottom of the pantlegs tucked into the strangest motorcycle boots Troy had ever seen. Needless to say, Troy was a little confused at the appearancce of the strangers.

"You would be?" Troy asked the threesome.

"I'm Vashyron. This is Leanne, and Zephyr," the oldest man said, gesturing first to the woman and then the younger male. "Who're you?

"I'm Troy. The redhead's my friend, York. Do you have any idea where we are?"

"Nope."

"We were sorta hoping to find someone that did," the woman spoke up. "Is he going to be okay? How long has he been like that?"

Troy looked at York, who slowly sat up. York blinked a few times and looked around the room.

"Welcome back, sleepyhead. So, what happened? One moment you were fine, then the next you just..."

"I'm not sure. Where are we? And who're they?" York asked.

"I'm not sure where we are. These three are Vashyron, Leanne, and Zephyr," Troy explained.

York stood and looked around the room before going towards the door.

"Well, might as well look around. We won't figure out anything sitting around in here. You three can come with us if you want."

The five of them travelled in silence for a while until Zephyr spoke up.

"So, anyone have the faintest idea how long we'll be here?"

"Could be months," Troy answered. "It was last time something like this happened to us. Of course, last time we knew what we were doing there. More or less."

"Damn. That means I'll be in this for a while then."

"You look nice with green hair, Zephyr," Leanne said. "Though I don't know what gave you the idea to have two different eye colors."

"The same thing that gave you the idea to put leopard ears on your head, most likely. Seriously, is something interesting going to happen soon? This is boring."

"Boring? Are you sure you don't mean confusing, Zephyr? I mean, we don't even know what's going on. How can you be bored?"

"Nothing's happening, Leanne. Whatever those things are don't even put up much of a fight."

"Zephyr, what've we told you about underestimating your enemy?" Vashyron put in. "But you're right. It is a little boring with nowhere to go and nothing to do."

"Caesar!" a new male voice yelled. "Caesar!" A redhead male came around the corner, along with a woman. They both had swords in hand, and looked like they came out of a fantasy novel.

The male had a brown sleeveless jacket with fur lining the upper chest and neck over a loose white shirt. A dark blue belt held the vest shut. Green chaps were cut off to only cover the thighs of his black pants, which were tucked into heeled light-brown boots that ended at the top of his calves. He had two necklaces, grayish-blue eyes, and burnt orange hair that had the waist-long back section tied into a low ponytail.

The woman had hip-length wavy dirty blonde hair that hung freely and magenta eyes. A loose collared green shirt with the back hanging almost to her ankles was covered with black cloth holding the sleeves shut and a black corsetted vest showing off the small curves of her torso. She had a black choker, black gloves, and a light purple belt. Her abdomen was showing where her shirt parted at her waist. Tight burgundy pants were tucked into thigh-high, high heeled boots laced to her knees.

"Oh, uh, hi," the male said. "We're looking for our friend. Have you seen him? He's around my height, with a darker complextion, reddish eyes, thick dark brown hair... carries a spear..." The group stared at him. "Guess that's a no. Well, sorry for bothering you." Leonard started walking off, but was stopped by the woman.

"Leonard. Don't you think it would be better to stay with these people? We don't know where we are, or where Caesar was dragged off to." Her worry for Caesar was evident in her voice, and York couldn't help but wonder what her relationship to the missing young man was.

"It's fine by me, if you guys want to come. The more the merrier." York's voice was dripping with sarcasm with that last addition. The two fantasy characters had a hushed discussion before the young man spoke again.

"Sure, we'd love to go with you. Oh. We found a map in an office upstairs." The woman pulled it out of her pocket, handing it to York. "My name's Leonard, by the way. She's Kara."

York nodded as he looked at the map, frowning. The map consisted of three pages, two of which had every room outlined in orrange. They were labeled as Floor 3 and Floor 2. There was a small dot in the middle hallway on the Floor 2 map. Looking at the key revealed that the dot was where they were.

"So, I take it you've explored every room upstairs? Did you find anything of interest?" York asked, not bothering to look up from the map.

"No. There wasn't really anything strange, either."

"Well, downstairs it is. Your friend's probably down there as well."

"Unless he's not here at all," Troy put in. Leonard and Kara looked horrified at the thought.

"No! He has to be here. I know he's here," Leonard said.

"Well, anyway, come on. We had to go to another floor eventually." York turned on his heel and started toward the stairwell without another word. The others followed, introducing themselves and talking to the newcomers. They also exchanged what they knew about the place while York contemplated the map.

He just couldn't figure out why it had bright orange lines outlining the rooms they had gone through, or why their location was marked with a bright purple dot. They made their way down the staircase, only getting halfway when some cretures burst through the window. They looked like giant deformed flies with human faces. Or, at least that's all York got to notice before being thrown to the floor by Troy. Luckily for him, they had been on a landing at the time.

The moment the glass had shattered, Zephyr had leapt into action. His hands had shot to the holsters on his butt, yanking out his dual submachine guns. He then proceeded to cover the area with bullets, hitting the disturbing mutant flies in multiple places, taking out most of their wings and reducing their numbers to twenty. He had also managed to take out the lighting while he was at it. After the last of them had fallen to the floor, Zephyr continued down the stairs as though the incident had never happened. The other stared after him before looking at Vashyron. He was the one who had brought Zephyr to them in the first place.

"And you say _I'm _trigger happy?" York said, looking at Troy. Troy shrugged before continuing down the stairs. York followed, coming to a stop next to the others at the bottom of the staircase. Leonard pushed the door open, and looked through the open doorway to check for any freakish monsters. Nothing to the left, and nothing to the right. He turned back to the others and smiled.

"Well, seems safe enough."

The group went into another dimly lit hallway and looked around. There weren't any monsters as far as they could see in any direction. They kept their weapons out, just in case. They followed the map down a series of hallways that felt more like a maze, before finally coming to the main hall of what now seemed to be a large public building.

"York, does this remind you of...?"

"Yeah. But that's impossible. Silent Hill doesn't exist. It's just a game... I think."

"So, where to now?" Leonard asked.

"It would make the most sense to find an office, or the front desk. Maybe there'll be someone who can make sense of all this."

"Or we could just follow that," Vashyron spoke up. "Surely you guys hear it." They all fell silent, listening for whatever Vashyron had apparently heard. The only noise was that of their breathing for a few moments before they heard it. The sound of something dragging across the tile floor. It was shortly followed by a door slamming shut and Kara running in the direction it had come from.

"Well? What are you waiting for? That could've been Caesar."

"It probably was," Troy said. "But, we can't just go running off in that direction. What if something terrible is over there? If it's smart enough to catch him off guard and take him right from under your noses, who's to say it isn't smart enough to set up traps or an ambush? That would certainly explain the lack of monsters in the area."

"Or we could just be lucky."

"Kara-"

"Just leave it, Troy. I'm sure we could handle whatever it is." Troy turned to York.

"York, you've noticed the similarities. What if it's..."

"Couldn't be him, Troy. He goes after women, remember. Though I wouldn't mind if he... Anyway, let's go."

"Probabaly need some god-forsaken item to open the door," Troy muttered as he followed.

A scream pierced the night air, catching them off guard. It was male, leading them to believe it must be Caesar. Kara and Leonard started running, following their ears as another scream echoed down the hall. They came to a stop at a door labeled 'The End' in a dead end hallway. Whimpers and cries came from the other side of the door, along with the sound of someone laughing. Leonard looked over the door, seeing an indentation for something. York pushed Leonard aside and examined the indentation before turning to Troy.

"We need an item. Problem is, we haven't seen anything anywhere with a heart shape." Another scream of pain came, causing Leonard and Kara to flinch and turn with worried expressions. Troy walked forward, setting his hand on the door.

"It shouldn't be too thick. We could probably break it down," Troy concluded.

He stepped back and lifted his foot. He gave the door a good three kicks, and it dented before falling in. The sight that awaited made them all gasp.

A man fitting Leonard's description was hanging from chains connected to the ceiling. His arms had been peirced with what loked like scalpels before being chained painfully above his head. Another chain came down not far from that one, circling around his waist. His legs appeared to have been burnt, and were just hanging limply where they were. Tears had left streaks down his face, and more tears kept coming. The creature from the bathroom was behind him, laughing. It was suporting itself on Caesar's back as it continued thrusting into him, bringing forth cries of pain from the man beneath it. It's laughter stopped when it looked up, seeing Troy.

"Ah, so you came. I was wondering when you'd show up. You being the rightful nightmare here, after all. And you brought the devil as well."

Troy and York glared at the creature, and it laughed again. The laugh was sickening. Caesar flinched as it pressed farther into him, more tears adding to the lines on his face. York pulled out his gun nad pointed it at the creature.

"Uh, uh. There'll be none of that." The creature pulled Caesar up by the chains around his wrists, using him as a shield. His chest was heaving as he took deep breaths in an attempt to calm himself. Blood trickled from a wound on his chest, though it ws nothing serious. Seeing Leonard and Kara, he turned his face away.

"Let him go, you stupid fucker!" York yelled. "He's got nothing to do with either me or Troy."

"Oh, I'll let him go. After I have my fun with him. Now, put the gun away."

York hesitantly put his gun away, glancing behind himself at Vashyron. The creature dropped Caesar once it heard York's gun slide into it's holster, causing him to wince in pain. Seeing his chance, Vashyron pulled his gun up and shot the top of the second chain holding Caesar. The chain instantly broke off the ceiling, dropping Ceasar and forcing the creature to let go of him and fall to the floor. Kara was on it in an instant, sword slicing clean through the skin and disembolwing the creature. It was dead in moments. Leonard and Kara ran to Caesar and helped him down. His legs shook and he collapsed on the floor, clinging to Kara. He shook as he sobbed against her, shocking his friends. The creature disolved, and Troy stared at the place it's body had been.

"Hey, York. Look at this," Troy said.

York came over to see what it was, a little surprised to see a bullet laying on the floor. Around it, written in what was most likely the creature's blood, was a message.

"'Foes become friends when shot in the middle.' Well, that's the most unhelpful information we've found yet," York read off. The room began glowing as Troy and York stared at each other. York picked up the bullet and dropped it into his pocket for future use.

When the glow died off, the group found themselves in front of a house in the middle of a dark forest.

-Notes: The other characters are from Resonance of Fate and White Knight Chronicles. Just an idea that had been floating around for a few days now.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2: The Moon Maiden

By some miracle, Caesar's clothes had transported with them, along with the red message that was now sinking into the dirt. All but Caesar stood there, looking around.

"So. We're in the middle of a forest in the middle of the night. At least there's a full moon out," Leonard said. "Caesar, can you stand?"

Caesar stood , shaking, before gasping and falling back to the ground.

"Sorry, guys," Caesar apologized.

York went into the house while Leonard looked Caesar over to see how badly he had been hurt. There were, of course, the scalpels stabbed into his arms and the burns on his legs. The cut on his side had stopped bleeding, which Leonard took as a good sign. Closer inspection found dark red encircling Caesar's wrists, as well as what looked like bruises. His hips and abdomen were also heavily bruised, the chain's shape standing out like a tattoo.

"God, Caesar. Kara, could you help me out? I'm going to heal these... If only Yulie were here. She's better at it than me."

"Are you sure? You're still weak, you know," Kara said.

York returned from scouting out the house, coming to stand beside them.

"House is clear. Troy, bring Caesar inside. Leonard and Kara help him. It's probably going to take a while, magic or no magic," York said. "Vashyron, would you help scout the surrounding area?"

"Sure thing." Vashyron left the small clearing. York told Leanne to watch over things as he left on the other side of the clearing.

Vashyron was a little unnerved. It wasn't that he was alone- he had been alone in creepier places- nor was it the darkness. There was just something unsettling about this place. A rustel sounded to his left. Vashyron turned, gun at the ready, but nothing came out at him. Cautiously, he lowered his gun and returned it to the holster on his thigh. Shortly after, he felt a cold sensation pass through him in two places. One hand materialized over his mouth, while the other boldly slid between his legs.

"Umph!" Vashyron said.

"What's a lovely thing like yourself doing out here in the dark of night?"

Vashyron's face heated at the sound of a man's voice. He tried to get out of the man's grasp, but nothing worked. Everwhere he tried, his hands passed right through. Vashyron shifted nervously as the man's hand stroked his inner thigh. He could feel his heartbeat quicken as his head was tilted left, exposing his neck. Hot breth washed over his skin seconds before a moist tongue left a trail from mid-throat to ear.

"No need to be so nervous, lovely," the man whispered.

A light nibble on his earlobe caused Vashyron's face to flush a dep crimson. The hand over Vashyron's mouth slid down his jawline, caressing his neck and collarbone before laying gently over Vashyron's heart. Vashyron tensed, his heart racing, as the other man's hand slid into his cest, resting directly on his frantically beating heart.

"Been a while since someone properly reacted to me."

"Get away from me," Vashyron said.

"Now, I don't think you're-" The man fell silent, turning suddenly right as Vashyron felt it. A presence not too far off, coming their way.

Vashyron turned slightly in shock, drawing back a bit when a large shadowy shape leapt from the trees, passing right through the man. The faact that it had missed it's target seemed to upset the creature, and a roar was heard before it tried again. Once again, it passed through it's intended target. Vashyron wasn't sure exactly what was going on, but he took his chance to get out of there.

"Hey! We're not done!" the man yelled after him.

Vashyron wasn't listening. He didn't stop running until he got back to the camp, bursting through the door into the house and startling everyone but Leonard. He realized everyone was staring at him, and decided he should say something.

"Nothing much. Just some guy. And a big, shadowy creature of some sort." Vashyron kept his report simple and to the point.

"Nothing on my side," York said as he came in. "How's Caesar? Any better?"

"He can walk. Leonard didn't get the bruises, though," Kara explained.

York looked over to where Leonard was napping next to Caesar, who was now sitting.

He had dressed himself, and looked much better now that he was fixed up. His clothes cleary showed that he was nobility of some sort, despite exposing his well-built torso. The top was a long-sleeved red vest that left the middle of his chest covered. A belt around his hips held up a red cloth that hung down on the side of his legs. Brown chaps covered his white pants, hanging low enough to show his inner thighs. His shoes looked like someone took a black boot, cut off the bottom, and conected it to a white sandal, somehow managing to make it look good. He also had two necklaces and three rings on his left hand.

"So, what's up with Leonard, anyway? He looks sick." York walked over to Leonard as he spoke, stopping to stare down at him.

"We don't know. Eldore thinks he's used the Incorruptus too much, so he gets exhausted easily," Caesar said with a shrug. "I don't really think that's it, personally. I mean, I've used Larvayne almost as much as he's used Wizel, but I feel fine."

"What..? Never mind, it doesn't really matter. Once he wakes up, we should get moving." York pulled the bullet out of his pocket and stared at it for the fifth time since they got there.

It looked like a normal bullet for the particular gun he carried. The only odd thing about it was the mark on both the front and back of it. It was a flower shape with a cross in the middle of it.

"_Friend becomes foe when shot in the middle... _What the hell's that supposed to mean?" York yelled suddenly.

"We'll figure it out, York." Troy placed a hand on York's shoulder. "We should just take it easy for now."

York leaned against Troy a bit, nodding, before pulling away as though realising he was doing something he shouldn't.

"You did that the first time you kissed me, too." Troy pulled York against his side, wrapping an arm around the redhead's shoulders. "Nobody's going to care."

York sighed.

"Kinda wish this was more like last time. At least then, there was someone who could explain what was going on. We're all on our own, with people we don't know... At least you're here, Troy." York lay his head on Troy's shoulder and closed his eyes.

"Well, isn't you who said 'I wish something would happen again. Life's sooo booooring now.'?"

"I don't think I held those, Troy. And I didn't mean something like this." York sighed and moved away from Troy. "Well, let's just go through. I'm sure we can take whatever this fucked-up place has to throw at us." Troy laughed and agreed, kissing York on the forehead.

Everyone rested for a few hours, hoping the moon would give way to the sun. Unfortunately, they had no such luck. So, they had to venture into the dark forest. After a few minutes so their eyes could get used to it, the group folowed a barely lit path through the trees.

They talked to pass the time, though everyone was a little anxious to get out of there.

Vashyron could feel eyes watching him as they walked through the trees. Nobody else seemed to notice, but it was disturbing him. More than once, he had turned and could have sworn he saw a man standing just off to the side, watching them.

"Come on. How long does this go?" Zephyr complained. He was leaning over, hands on his own knees, looking at the ground. "We haven't even been attacked yet."

"You're the only person I know that wants attacked in the dark," Leonard commented. "Wouldn't it be bad to get attaked now? We're in the middle of a forest. They could attack, then vanish into the trees before we did anything."

"He has a point, Zephyr. You may be comfortable with it, but not everyone's good in the dark, like you." Leanne sounded annoyed, as though she was remembering something unpleasant.

"God, I wish we had a map." York looked around at their surroundings, only to find that it looked the same as their surroundings twenty minutes ago.

"We do. A straight path that will lead us... somewhere."

"Not helpful, Troy." York sighed and sat on the edge of the path, the others following suit.

A low growl came from the trees behind them, and they only had a second to dive out of the way of something. A large, shadowy creature stood just off the other side of the path. From what they could see of it, it was a large dog-like creature. It's eyes were glowing red, and wisps of smoke rose off of it like an aura. Though it didn't move, they heard a roar and the beast's horrible breath washed over them like water. York tried shooting it, but the bullet passed right through and hit a nearby tree. The creature lunged again, passing over them as they ducked.

"Run."

The order was spoken, but everyone heard him. They started off the direction they had been going, this time at full-run. It didn't take long for a break in the trees to appear and they burst into a moonlit meadow. The creature stopped at the edge of the trees, seemingly afraid of the moonlight. As they paused to catch their breath, a woman spoke up.

"Who're you?"

The speaker was young, probably no more than a teenager. Short, magenta colored hair was styled in a bobcut, hanging to her chin. She wore a brown and yellow sleeveless shirt, white sleeves held up by a yellow, cloth armlet, a short green skirt, and thigh-high black boots. Her eyes were strange, though. The irises were steel-blue, but the whites of her eyes were actually black. In her hands was a bow.

"Yulie? What are you doing here?" Leonard asked, stepping forward.

"You know her?" York asked.

"She's my best friend."

"She dosen't look very friendly."

"I said, who are you?" The woman didn't seem to appreciate being ignored.

"Yulie, you don't recognise me?" Leonard took another step toward her, and she moved back.

"Don't come any closer!" Yulie yelled, backing away and drawing back an arrow. She appeared to be muttering something, before she shot the arrow at the full moon and transformed. Where Yulie had been standing was now a huge, metal knight. It was obviously female, with pink skin and hair. The armor was light purpple and blue. In her handds was a giant bow, which she proceeded to use to shoot them. Leonard barely managed to get out of the way before an arrow scorched the ground where he had been standing.

"Please tell me there's a way to defeat that thing!" York yelled.

Leonard and Caesar did the same as Yulie. They muttered something, did a movement, and in their places were two more of the huge knights. Leonard's was male, with light gray armor with some gold on it, and a blue cape and torso area. He had a sword in his right hand, and a shield in his left. Caesar's was interesting. It, like Leonard's, was male. The armor was pink, though the top of the dragon wings coming from his back were brown. He wielded a spear.

"Impresive," Troy said with a grin.

"Yulie, you've got to snap out of it!" Leonard yelled, going onto the defensive.

An arrow ricocheted off his shield, slamming into a nearby tree. Caesar jumped in, thrusting his spear at her midsection. She moved to the side, gracefully dodging while pulling back to fire another arrow. At such close range, it was nearly impossible for her to miss. Caesar reacted quickly, yanking his spear up and just managing to deflect the arrow. The force sent him back a few steps. Leonard jumped in, slamming into her with his shield. The blow sent her back as he leaned into it, knocking her to her butt. A strange glowing bar lit up above her head, part of the green vanishing. York gasped, moving forward.

"Just hit her, guys! I don't think you can kill her!"

The two knights stopped and turned toward him for the briefest of moments before directing their attention back to Yulie. They seemed to notice the bar, and set their mind to the fight. Arrows were sent off course, blasting trees all around the meadow. Leonard and Caesar looked almost as though they were dancing with Yulie. The knights spun and struck out with their weapons, until they finally had her down on one knee. The green bar was completely depleted. Yulie was held in place by some invisible force as the knight's form dissipated and left the woman they had met earlier. The same mark that was on the bullet they had found appeared before her. As York stared at it, he realized what he had to do. He loaded the bullet into one of his guns, raised it, aimed, and fired into the center of the cross. There was a blinding light as the mark shattered and vanished, dropping Yulie to the ground. Leonard and Caesar's knights dissipated as well, and they ran to their fallen friend. Leonard dropped to his knees beside her and gently lifted her off the ground. She stayed arched backward a few moments before she stirred. Her eyes fluttered open and she turned to look at Leonard. They were, thankfully, back to normal.

"What happened?" Her voice was low, almost a whisper. "The last thing I remember, I was in a forest, and there was a voice..." Yulie trailed off, falling asleep.

Leonard looked up at Caesar, who shrugged.

"At least she's okay... Damn, the Moon Maiden's a pain. Remind me not to piss her off." Caesar stretched as he said this. York came to stand next to them and see how Yulie was doing.

Once again, the scenery shifted and they found themselves outside what appeared to be an ancient, crumbling city.

"Great. Another area to explore," Zephyr complained.

"It's not that-" Vashyron cut himself off, looking behind them as he felt a gaze burning into him.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3: To the Temple

The group had decided to check the temple they could see in the distance for any clues of how to leave. The fog had set in half an hour after they had gotten there. Shortly after that, they had ended up getting separated. Vashyron had been wandering for at least an hour on his own. And he could still feel that gaze following him. For what felt like the hundredth time, Vashyron looked behind him and scanned his surroundings. Still nothing, as far as he could see. Vashyron sighed, low and prolonged, before setting off again.

"There's got to be something somewhere..." he muttered.

He had barely gotten the words out when he felt a pressure on his chest, knocking him to the ground. He recovered as quickly as possible, rolling to the side and climbing to his feet. His breath came in short gasps as he turned, once again checking his surroundings.

_Think, Vashyron. Whatever it is has to be somewhere nearby._

In that instant, the creature made its appearance. It was tall- probably around seven feet- with long arms and legs, and a torso that was barely visible. Its head looked much too small for its body, with small empty sockets where its eyes should've been. Vashyron took a step back, his body slightly shaking with fear. One long, blood-stained arm reached toward him, the hand outstretched as though to grab something. Vashyron backed away from the horrible creature's outstretched hand. He pulled up his gun and shot at its face. Four bullets passed right through it. Panic began creeping into Vashyron as he realized he couldn't kill it. At least, not like this. So he did what any sensible person would do. He ran.

The only sound he heard for a few minutes was his own ragged breathing and the monster's dragging footsteps. A building materialized from the fog, and Vashyron wasted no time getting through the front door. The interior of the building was dark, and every step made a squelching sound. Vashyron gave his eyes time to adjust as he cautiously made his way down the hallway. Every door he found on the first floor was locked, and none of the lights worked. The door to the stairs was open a crack, so Vashyron started up the stairs. He didn't get more than four steps when he heard the front door fall in and shuffling feet. Tightening his grip on his gun, Vashyron ran up the remaining stairs and onto the second floor. As he turned into the hallway, a woman entered one of the rooms.

"Hey!" he shouted.

Vashyron ran down to the room, swinging the door open and entering shortly after she had. The door swung shut behind him as he approached the middle of the room, where she was standing. Her blond hair was pulled up. She wore a short dress and high heels.

"Well. Lookin' good." Vashyron put his gun away and stepped toward the nurse. "What's your name? What are you doing in a place like this, anyway?"

As he got closer, Vashyron noticed she seemed to be twitching. His steps slowed a little and his smile was replaced with a frown. Something was obviously wrong with her- though Vashyron had no clue what it could be. The nurse turned suddenly, holding up a dirty scalpel. Vashyron jumped back away from her swing, pulled out his gun, and shot without a second thought. The bullets hit her dead-on. She fell to the floor, twitched once, and ceased to move. Vashyron leaned over her, and found that she was voluptuous, with the top of the dress cut down to show a lot of cleavage. The top half of her face was covered in bandages, though there was no mistaking the lower half and general shape. The nurse was Cardinal Barbarella. Vashyron was thinking over what just happened when he heard clapping.

"Well done."

He tensed at the voice, recognizing it from the forest. Vashyron turned, keeping the gun in his hand. The man leaning in the doorway was tall, slender, well-built for his form, and undeniably good-looking. Piercing gold eyes stood out from a dark, umber complexion and wavy dark purple hair. As he pushed off the door and moved forward, Vashyron noticed scars on his torso and the one arm exposed by the long white jacket he was wearing. His black boots sounded loud in the empty room, echoing with each step.

"It certainly is nice to see you again," the man said.

Vashyron could feel his heart racing again as the man approached.

"What do you want?" Vashyron pointed his gun at the man.

"I just want to get to know you." The man didn't stop, despite the gun. Soon the space between them was closed, Vashyron's gun against the man's chest. "That won't do any good, you know." The man walked forward, the gun and Vashyron's arm both passing through him. "See? Your bullets would just go right through me."

He ran a hand through Vashyron's bangs, letting it come to rest on his cheek. Vashyron didn't look away from the man's eyes as he moved in for a kiss. When their lips met, Vashyron both gasped and sighed at once, moving his lips more firmly against the other man's. They stayed locked like that for a few moments. The man moved down, pressing his lips to Vashyron's jawline, trailing down towards his throat. Without thinking, Vashyron tilted his head back to give him better access to his throat.

_What are you doing? _Vashyron scolded himself._ You like women, not handsome young male strangers. _

Though, Vashyron couldn't deny that he wanted more. A taste of what this man was offering him. He dropped the gun to the floor and gently placed his hands on the man's shoulders. Teasing lips had just reached his collarbone when the door was knocked off its hinges. Vashyron pushed the man away, looking at the door. In the doorway stood that creature from before.

-Troy-

He knew there were things out there. He could hear them. Whatever they were seemed to be afraid of him. Just in case they did attack, Troy had his sword drawn and ready. He had heard gunshots earlier, and hoped whoever they had come from was all right. A tall stone building materialized from the fog before him as he wandered. It looked like some sort of church. It had large wooden doors and stained glass windows. Troy ascended the short staircase, fully expecting something to come at him from inside the church. Nothing happened. Troy looked around before pushing the heavy door open to reveal the inside of the church. It was made up of one large room lit by candles. Troy walked up the aisle, looking around at all the paintings in the room. From the looks of things, the church belonged to some kind of messed-up religious cult. He stopped in front of the altar, looking down at it. Lying on the altar was a huge sword. The blade looked like it had dried blood and rust on it, as though it had never been properly cleaned before.

Something drew Troy to the sword, and he reached out to grasp the hilt…

-Zephyr-

Zephyr looked around and decided he had once again gone in a circle.

_Dammit, this fog's annoying, _he thought.

Zephyr turned in a full circle, trying to figure out his surroundings. The fog, of course, stopped him. He was about to once again set off in a random direction when he heard laughter to his left. Turning, Zephyr saw a familiar-looking little girl. Without thinking, he started toward her. She noticed him and, giggling, ran off.

"Wait!" Zephyr shouted.

He ran after her, following her right to a large stone building. He ran through the doors she left open and found himself in a hallway that was all too familiar. The lights were flickering, and stuff littered the hallway. Blood was everywhere, pooling in some places, and giving the impression that some sort of massacre had occurred there. Unable to believe what his mind was telling him, Zephyr looked into each room he passed. Nothing of interest was in any of them. He followed the hallway to large double doors leading to a large circular room. There were wisps of fog floating around the room that he recognized from his nightmares. It was the room where he had been killed and reborn. Glass from the skylight that had been the ceiling still littered the floor, just like he remembered. The statue was also there, arms outstretched and head slightly looking down. Robes adorned the figure, showing it for a religious statue. As he stared at the statue, the room seemed to fill with sounds.

He could hear an explosion, glass shattering as it hit the floor, gunshots, and finally the noises a person makes when they're being gagged. Muffled protests, a muffled scream, then it was all cut off by two gunshots. Zephyr winced, remembering the pain of that moment. Remembering how Vashyron had looked before he shot him…

Time seemed to stand still as he approached the statue across the room from him. There, right where he expected them, was two bullet holes. Zephyr raised a shaking hand to the statue, laying his hand over the twin holes.

_But, we're not… _

Zephyr's mind was racing, trying to come up with a logical conclusion. The room he was in could only be the Crank Seminary, on Basel. As far as he knew, they weren't anywhere near Basel. Since that day, he hadn't been allowed to die. Every time he either tried or came close to dying, something had prevented it. Even Lagerfeld, a Cardinal, had said he didn't deserve to live. After what he did- murdering everyone in the Seminary- even he felt that he should be dead. Zephyr fell to his knees before the statue. That feeling was returning. The one he got every Christmas. He should be dead. He deserved to be dead.

"Why am I even alive?" Zephyr asked himself. "I don't deserve to be…"

Past his own breathing, he heard a noise behind him. The sound of walking, and metal dragging. Zephyr turned, sighing when he saw Troy. In his right hand was a huge sword, which looked like it was covered in either blood or rust. It was dragging on the floor behind him.

"Don't do that. I thought you were a monster."

Zephyr looked back at the floor in front of him. Getting a strange feeling, Zephyr looked back at Troy, who had yet to say something. Troy stopped and lifted the sword. Zephyr's eyes widened as he realized what Troy was doing. Going on instinct, Zephyr dropped to the floor and managed to dodge the swing that would have surely killed him. Horrified that Troy would attack him, he looked up at Troy's face. Rather than the normal blue, Troy's eyes were completely white. It looked as though he was dead. Zephyr scrambled away from him, momentarily thinking about pulling his gun out. His hand found it in the holster on his butt. Still backing away from Troy, Zephyr let his hand fall from the gun. He turned and ran out of the building, Troy following him.

-Vashyron-

Vashyron dove to the side, and hit the floor hard. A giant fist crashed into the wall where he had been moments ago. Chips of the wall landed on Vashyron as he got to his feet. He shot at the thing again, wasting his bullets.

"Damn it." He looked over to his momentary partner, who was almost in the same situation he was. Except he could actually hit the thing. The purple-haired men kicked it hard in the stomach, though the blow didn't seem to affect it at all. Its arm swung at him, passing right through his body.

"This is getting us nowhere…," the man said. He ran through the monster and swung Vashyron up into his arms.

"Hey! Put me down!" Vashyron protested.

The man shook his head. He walked right up to the hole in the wall, stepping out onto the air.

"By the way, I'm Tyki. What's your name?"

"Vashyron." He put his arms around Tyki's neck. "…Don't drop me."

Vashyron hated this. In the arms of a man he barely knew. The man was walking on air, which gave no room for demands to be put down.

"Could you go down? That way, you don't have to carry me, and I don't have to hold onto you."

Tyki laughed.

"Nah. I don't mind. It's easier this way." He looked down at the ground, where he could just make out forms walking around. "Less monsters. So. Any idea what that thing was?"

"Never seen him before I came here." Vashyron absently played with Tyki's ponytail. "Though that strange woman looked like someone I know."

They were silent a few minutes before Vashyron spoke up again.

"How are you doing that?"

"Hm?" Tyki took a few moments to realize what Vashyron was talking about. "Oh. Well, it's just something I can do. If I want to touch it, I can touch it. If I don't want to, it can't touch me. Trust me, if I wanted you to fall, you'd fall."

Tyki grinned at Vashyron, who looked away.

"Despite all the monsters, could we return to the ground?" Vashyron had been in Tyki's arms long enough- he was actually starting to get comfortable. He looked around, trying to find something other than Tyki to look at. That's when he noticed a light off in the distance. He pointed. "That wasn't there earlier. Do you think the others…?"

"Let's find out." He walked a few steps before speaking up again. "It's nice, getting to hold you this long."

A blush dusted Vashyron's face, which he kept turned away from Tyki. He really didn't like this. Not one bit. He didn't act like himself around Tyki- it was as though he was with Victor all over again. Though when he thought about it, Vashyron supposed that was part of his problem with Tyki. He'd never been very interested in a man, no- anyone really, since Victor died.

_Wait a minute. Since when were you interested in Tyki? You barely know the man, Vashyron!_

He repeated to himself that he didn't like Tyki until they reached the bonfire the others had created. Gunshots were echoing in the empty air as York and Leanne shot every abomination that got too close. The others were taking care of the ones on their sides with their own weapons. Leanne turned and saw Vashyron just as Tyki was setting him down, unfortunately for him. She ran over with a big smile on her face.

"Nice to see you back, Vashyron. Who's your friend?" she said.

"Tyki. He helped me out of a situation. What's happening here?" His response was quick, something Leanne didn't miss.

"York figured if we built a huge fire, then the others would be attracted to it," she explained. "Unfortunately, so were the monsters." She turned and pointed to what could barely be seen as the outline of a building. "The old building over there gave him the idea. It had a bunch of useless junk, so York used that."

"Good job Leanne. Looks like you can take care of yourself."

"Someone was with me, Vashyron. I wasn't by myself."

Vashyron smiled.

"Where's Zephyr?"

"I thought he was with you." Leanne looked over at Tyki again and smiled. "Of course, if you were with him, then-"

"Leanne. He helped me with something. That's all."

Leanne gave him a 'sure, sure,' kind of look and walked off. Vashyron frowned after her, wondering if her attitude had anything to do with how he generally treated her. Zephyr ran into the light just then, going right up to York. He didn't look too happy.

"Your boyfriend just tried to kill me!" he yelled at York. York looked genuinely confused.

"What? Troy wouldn't-"

"I was in the old Crank Seminary, thinking over everything that had happened there." He looked over at Vashyron before looking back at York. "Troy came in behind me, and tried to slice me in half. He didn't really look like himself, but he still tried to kill me."

"Did you say the Crank Seminary?" Vashyron asked, going over. "We're nowhere near Basel."

Zephyr shrugged.

"It looked just like the place. It had the giant statue, the bullet holes were there, and the skylight was all over the floor. Just how we left it."

"Did anything happen while you were in there?" York had a thoughtful tone in his voice. He was trying to figure something out, and he hoped he was wrong.

"Bad memories came back. It was as though they were playing out in front of me. I could hear yelling, shooting, glass falling on the floor. When Vashyron…" Zephyr trailed off.

"Something had happened in the seminary. Zephyr went crazy and killed everyone in the building. I was sent to kill him." Vashyron shrugged. "He didn't die from two shots to the head."

York stared at the two of them. He had no idea how someone could survive two shots to their head, and it didn't look as though either of them wanted to talk about it.

"He a friend of yours?" York motioned toward Tyki.

"Acquaintance," Vashyron said. "He helped me."

"Right. Now that everyone's back, we need to come up with a plan. Obviously, we aren't in the same place we were when we arrived." He looked around at everyone. "The fog's fucking with us. We need to find that temple. If we find that, we can get the hell out of here." York's tone implied he had done this before.

"What about Troy?" Zephyr asked. "You're just going to leave him here?"

"He'll be wherever we appear next. Trust me." The others wondered how he could be so sure of it, but didn't push it. "Which direction should we try first?"

The group looked around, but the fog made everyone uncertain. It was too thick- they'd never be able to choose. They began discussing what direction everyone had come from in an attempt to figure out their surroundings. Not that it would do them any good. The sound of loud dragging drew their attention away from the conversation. No footsteps were accompanying it. The creature came into view just as Vashyron connected the sound to what he had seen earlier. It had grown since he last saw it, now standing around twenty feet. Its right arm had been fused to a huge cannon. That was going to make their plan harder. As they turned to run, the giant drew back its right arm. With an echoing boom, it shot the cannon and nearly hit the group. They all ran in the same direction, not caring where they ended up so long as the giant couldn't follow them.

"Why don't we just kill it?" Zephyr asked. They had taken on plenty of guys just as large on Basel.

"We can't hit it. I've tried."

Leonard turned and called a bolt of lightning down on the giant's cannon. It roared in pain, shaking its arm. They didn't stick around. Instead, they out as much distance between it and them as possible. By pure luck, they soon saw the temple materialize from the fog before them. Without a seconds thought, they pushed the door in and entered. When they were catching their breath, they realized it didn't look much like a temple anymore….


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4: The Mall

"A mall?" York's voice held a hint of irritation. "Why the hell are we in a mall?"

The group looked around, almost all of them confused. Shops lined the wide hallway they were standing in. All of the lights were off, though the speakers were working fine. They were letting out what could only be opera.

"Okay…. Well, we should spilt up. These places are huge. It wouldn't be hard to miss something important. If something stands out as odd…" He looked around the group. "Or, extremely out of place, pick it up. And if you see Troy, don't kill him."

The group went their separate ways with an agreement to meet at the fountain in a few hours. York wandered down the hall, reading the signs. Nothing really grabbed his attention, but he decided to go into one of the bookstores. It barely required any force to open the door. Shelves of books formed aisles across the floor. The smell of newly-printed books filled the space. York moved farther into the store, looking around. Nothing grabbed his attention. None of the books really stood out, and none appeared to be missing. York went behind the counter when he reached it. He looked through the drawers he found there. Still nothing. Books fell onto the floor, and York looked up. One of the shelves had tipped over and hit the shelf next to it. He drew his guns before moving around the counter. Nothing was in the room with him, though something had to have knocked over the bookshelf. York slowly moved back through the store, watching his surroundings. He didn't see anything until he left. A glance down the hall to his left worried him.

"Miko…?"

York ran after the green-haired woman. The fact that she was supposed to be dead didn't occur to him.

"Miko, it's me. Wait!" he yelled after her.

She didn't stop until they were in the food court. York stopped, staring at her. A smile crossed his face as she turned toward him. Miko smiled and reached out to him. York took a step forward and stopped. Her expression changed from a smile to a look of shock. Her dark green eyes widened. York tore his gaze from them to look down at her abdomen where a sword was impaling her. Troy stood behind Miko. Mahogany eyes slowly met dull, lifeless blue.

"Troy? What are you…?"

Troy pulled the sword back, allowing Miko's body to fall to the floor. There wasn't an ounce of pity or apology in Troy's eyes. Eyes full of betrayal looked back to Miko. Blood was staining her clothes, leaking from her split body onto the floor.

"She wasn't good for you," Troy said. His voice sounded dull and empty. As though he wasn't really there. "Her power was blocking your own. For you to unlock your full potential, she had to be eliminated."

York looked up at Troy. His mahogany eyes still held that betrayal, though it was now tainted by confusion.

"What the hell are you talking about? I don't have any powers. Miko was the one with-"

"You aren't a normal human. You have powers you haven't even dreamed of."

York refused to believe him. Miko may have had the power of a Light Baku, but York was sure he would've noticed if something had been holding him back.

"Why did you think you could see people's auras? You can read them as clearly as a book. You're the one thing that could calm me down when we first met."

"So what are you then?" York asked. His tone was mocking. "You had the aura of something made for killing when we first met." Eyes widened, a realization hitting him. "Don't tell me… But that's just a game!"

Troy smiled. He closed his eyes, the air around him shimmering. A large, red, triangular-shaped helmet materialized on his shoulders. York would've recognized that anywhere. He backed away a step. He'd never been this truly frightened in his life. The thing that used to be Troy took a step toward him. York backed another. The figure laughed and the helmet vanished. Breathing was still heavy for York. Memories flashed before his eyes. The way his parents seemed to care more about Miko than him. How Troy had looked when they first met. His parents not caring when Miko was attacking him over something stupid, eventually trying to kill him themselves. The weird dreams he'd been having since Miko's death….

"I'm… No, that's impossible."

York looked around the court, desperately hoping someone would come tell him this was all a dream. The only other person there was Troy. His vision swam, voices filling his head. Troy approached him and he pointed his gun at him.

"D-don't…."

York collapsed.

-?-

"Why did he mean by anything extremely out of place?" Leonard asked Yulie.

The two had been wandering through a clothing store for the last few minutes. Nothing stood out as out of place, unless clothes counted. Yulie stopped for the twentieth time to pick up something. This time, it was a dress. Leonard grimaced and shook his head. It was too low cut. Yulie pouted and out it back.

"You've done that about everything, Leonard," she said.

"Well everything looks bad on you." He looked around at the clothes. "It's all too low cut, or too bright, or too-"

"Leonard!" Yulie stood, hands on her hips. "I wanted to get _something. _All of it can't be that bad."

Leonard didn't feel like arguing with her about clothes. A smaller room off to the side caught his attention. He ran over and peered in. There was a small bench to sit on, hooks on the wall, and a mirror on the wall. He frowned. There was nothing of interest. Until he saw his reflection. There was a man reflected back in the mirror, though it definitely wasn't him. The man in the reflection was wearing one of the strangest outfits Leonard had ever seen. His shoulders and arms were covered by some kind of black cloth, though the rest of the shirt was missing. Something was covering his stomach, going into the skirt hanging to his ankles. All of it was the same shade as the sleeves. His hair was feathered, pulled in front of his shoulders with bangs obscuring part of his face. The tips were the same shade as Leonard's, while the rest of it was white. His eyes unnerved Leonard. They were gold surrounded by black. He seemed to be looking into Leonard's soul.

"Yulie… Would strange men in mirrors count?" Leonard yelled to the other. The man smiled at him and vanished. His normal reflection was back in place.

Yulie ran into the room. Leonard was staring at the mirror. His expression was one of complete confusion.

_Who was… Why would my reflection show someone else? _Leonard couldn't get his mind around the fact that someone else's reflection had been in the mirror. It just didn't make any sense. Yulie looked at the mirror from over his shoulder.

"Looks like regular old Leonard to me."

Leonard smiled.

"Thanks, Yulie." It was small comments like those that he appreciated hearing from her. Even if she was annoying a lot of the time. "I don't think there's anything here. Maybe we should-"

A sound caught their attention. Leonard drew his sword while Yulie pulled out her bow and nocked an arrow. They cautiously left the room. Nothing seemed to be in sight. They knew better than to let their guards down and instead remained cautious as they made their way back through the store. Another noise drew their attention to the right as a rack of clothes fell over. Leonard stood on edge, staring into the darkness of the store. Yulie was doing the same. They were standing back-to-back.

"You don't really think we're surrounded, right?" Yulie asked.

"You never know."

Something flashed by so fast Leonard almost missed it. There was definitely something out there. The shape had been on the big side. If and when it decided to attack them, Leonard was sure they'd spend more time running away from it than actually fighting. Clothes were being strewn all over the floor as the creature stayed just out of view.

"Come on, Yulie."

The two ran for the door, dodging to the floor when a clothing rack came flying at their heads. The dresses had fallen off of it and the empty rack had just brushed Leonard's hair. The door wasn't that far away- though, the more they ran, the more it seemed like they weren't getting any closer. The two stopped and turned to face whatever was in the store with them.

For a few minutes, nothing happened. Then out of the shadows came a massive creature. It resembled the White Knight, though it had horns and a tattered cape. Purple tinted the armor and caused the eye sockets to glow. It roared at the two, showing pointed teeth. Leonard looked to Yulie, who seemed to be shaking. She stared at the demonic version of her boyfriend's knight, backing away. No way she could fight that. Footsteps got Leonard's attention again. He turned in time to see the monster coming right at them.

"Yulie, run!" he yelled.

Leonard pushed Yulie to the side, quickly following. She grabbed his hand as they ran to the left, narrowly avoiding the heeled metal boot of the knight. The metal monstrosity turned and ran after them. Leonard looked around, cursing the darkness. The store was too dark; he couldn't see where he was leading them. Racks of clothes kept blocking the path. Racks they had swerved around could be heard getting thrown and hitting the walls.

_Great, _Leonard thought. _It's going to catch us in no time. I can't use Wizel… It looks too much like him. _

"Yulie," he said, "call Luthia. If you don't, we're never going to get out of here." Yulie looked at him.

"I can't. I can't fight that, Leonard. Even with Luthia's help. It'll be too much like fighting you."

"I can't call on Wizel, Yulie." Leonard shook her by the shoulders. "It looks too much like him. Who knows what would happen…"

Yulie pulled away from Leonard. After a deep breath to calm herself, she began the incantation.

"Oh, Luthia. Argent goddess and beacon in the ancient night, grant me your power. Verto!"

Swinging her arm out to the left, a flash of light enveloped Yulie. Luthia stood in her place, bow in hand and at the ready. The demonic knight seemed to snarl at her, raising its own weapon. Leonard got behind Yulie, determined to not get in the way. Or hit by a stray attack. Yulie knocked an arrow and fired it at the other knight. He got out of the way, much to their dismay.

"Leonard!" Yulie yelled. "We should keep moving. I don't think it's a good idea to fight him."

Leonard nodded and started off at a run. Yulie knocked another arrow and fired again. The demonic knight roared as it got hit in the arm. Yulie backed up as she knocked yet another arrow. Her shots kept him far enough away that his sword was of no use. Without much warning, he swung his sword and set off a blast of wind. Yulie was unaffected, being a knight, but Leonard fell to the floor. As another arrow flew at the other knight, Yulie turned to check on Leonard. He was getting back on his feet, and didn't look injured. Leonard looked behind himself and smiled. Yulie turned back to her opponent and groaned. None of the attacks that had hit had had any effect on the other. In the next instant, Leonard found himself lifted off the ground. Yulie had put her bow away and was now carrying him through the remainder of the store. They crashed through the wall and into the main hall. The monstrous knight howled in rage, stopped by a barrier of some kind. One Yulie was glad for.

Once Leonard was on his own feet again, she transformed back to her human form. The two of them moved away from the clothing store, unsure of whether or not they had gained anything useful.

-?-

Leanne sighed. She and Zephyr were walking up the unmoving escalator, both nervous and unwilling to mention it. Nothing had attacked them yet, though both had their guns out and ready. Opera was still coming from all the speakers in the building, and the incessant noise was beginning to give them headaches. Leanne was just glad for Zephyr's company- at least she knew him well enough to be herself.

"When do you think we'll get back to Basel?" she finally asked. Zephyr glanced over at her before looking around again.

"Don't know. Hopefully soon. The cardinals would be lost without us." The two laughed, though it was low and a bit forced. "Don't worry too much, Leanne. Just focus on staying alive and getting out of here."

As they reached the top of the escalator, a voice rang out. "Monster!" It yelled. Zephyr looked around, but didn't see anyone. Then, from the darkness, came a young girl. One Zephyr knew too well. "Why are you still alive? You killed us!" The girl sounded about to cry. "After everything we had gone through together... All those nights where we thought we were alone, but realized we had each other..." She looked to the floor, right hand clenched over her heart. Zephyr backed away a step. The grip he had on his gun faltered and it clattered to the floor. "Then you slaughtered us like animals! I understand the adults, but why us? We hadn't done anything wrong!" with her last statement, the girl looked back up. Tears had filed her eyes as she glared at Zephyr. Leanne looked from Zephyr to the empty hall.

"I... I..."

"You should've died! You deserve to die!"

Zephyr was shaking his head by then. Muttered apologies were falling from his lips. Confusion filled Leanne. Nothing was there, nobody was saying anything. She had never seen Zephyr like this. The only time when something really bothered him was Christmas. Even then, he kept himself locked away in his room. A movement from the hall caught her attention. Looking over again, she gasped. About a dozen things were steadily moving toward them. They vaguely resembled children. Their skin was completely grey, and each had bullet wounds. Each looked like it had been shot by someone who had become trigger-happy. Leanne raised her gun.

"We should move to a safer place," she said. Zephyr merely moaned in response. "Zephyr, what's wrong with you?"

"I'm sure the others want to see you too, Zephyr," the girl was saying. "We miss you, despite what you did to us. If you join us, we could forgive and forget."

She held her hand out to Zephyr. Zephyr stared at it. The fact that he had been the cause of her death was at the front of his mind. He had caused all of their deaths. But they were willing to forgive him. All he had to do was take her hand. To repent, and give in to what he knew he deserved. God had given him another chance, a decision he often questioned. He reached for her hand.

Leanne grabbed it. Scooping his gun from the floor, she started running. The monsters had gotten too close for her comfort. Another figure joined them in the hall. This one struck fear into the monsters, who all hurried to get out of his way. The sword in his hands barely weighed him down despite how heavy it must've been. Leanne could hear the monsters moving away from them. Under the sound of their shuffling feet was the grating sound of metal dragging across the tiles. She didn't need to look back to know that something considerably more deadly had just entered the area. The feeling of danger had filled the air, leaving little room for anything else. With Zephyr in the state he was, it was up to her to protect the both of them. And there was no way she could even face whatever was behind them. Zephyr pulled back on her arm.

"Let me go," he said. "They're right. I deserve to die. After what I did-"

Leanne's slap echoed in the area. "Now's not the time, Zephyr! We need to go this way." She pulled on his arm again, and this time he followed her.


End file.
